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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Airport
Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (Arabic: مطار الأمير محمد بن عبد العزيز الدولي) or Medina Airport (IATA: MED, ICAO: OEMA) is a regional airport in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Opened in 1950, it handles domestic flights, while it has scheduled international services to regional destinations such as Cairo, Dubai, Istanbul and Kuwait City. Medina Airport also handles charter international flights during the Hajj and Umrah seasons. The Pilgrims for Hajj and Umrah can enter Saudi Arabia through this airport or through Jeddah Airport only. It is the fourth busiest airport in Saudi Arabia, handling 8,144,790 passengers in 2018.

Overview

Check-in hall interior
A Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 747-300
Parking area of airport

The existing airport achieved international status in 2007. The winning consortium comprised TAV Airports of Turkey and Saudi Oger Limited and Al Rajhi Holding Group, both of Saudi Arabia. In October 2011, the consortium entered into a contract with the Civil Aviation Authority of Saudi Arabia (GACA) to build and operate the Prince Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Al Madinah Al-Munawarah under a 25-year concession. The project reached financial close on 30 June 2012, securing a total of US$1.2 billion financing package from a club of Saudi Arabian banks. The project has been structured as a Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) project so that GACA retains ownership of the airport infrastructure. The consortium, through the special purpose vehicle incorporated for the project, TIBAH Airports Development Company Limited, will be responsible for the management of the airport, including airside and landside operations. GACA will continue to act as regulator and will be responsible for air traffic control operation.

The 25 year concession is the first full public private partnership (PPP) project in Saudi Arabia. The project has an initial build cost of US$1.2 billion and which may, with future investments and expansions, increase to US$1.5 billion. Whilst there are a number of major transport projects in the pipeline in the GCC region, it was the largest infrastructure project to close in 2012. The three lenders – National Commercial Bank, Arab National Bank and Saudi British Bank – provided a US$1.2 billion Islamic financing package comprising a three-year US$436 million commodity Murabaha equity bridge facility, an 18-year US$719 million procurement facility (in several tranches) and a US$23 million working capital facility. The facilities were primarily denominated in Saudi Riyals (SAR).

Madinah Airport has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for the recent terminal expansion from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED certification is considered the industry standard in defining and measuring "green," sustainable construction. The award makes Madinah Airport home to the first LEED Gold certified commercial airport terminal in the MENA region. The project has also been awarded the Middle East Infrastructure Deal of the Year (2013) by Project Finance International Middle East & Africa Awards, and Best Islamic Finance Project Finance Deal of the Year (2013) by Euromoney Islamic Finance Awards.

New Madinah airport test operations began on 12 April 2015. A Saudia domestic flight coming from Riyadh landed at 11 a.m. at the new Prince Muhammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, marking the start of the airport's test run operations. Flight SV1435 was the first to land at the airport. Another aircraft, flight SV1476, then took off at 11:45, the first ever to take off from the new facility.

Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport was officially inaugurated by King Salman on 2 July 2015. The airport project was announced as the world's best by Engineering News-Record's 3rd Annual Global Best Projects Competition held on 10 September 2015. The airport is named after King Abdulaziz's son, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Algerie Seasonal: Algiers
Air Arabia Alexandria, Sharjah
Air Astana Almaty
Air Cairo Alexandria, Assiut, Sohag
AJet Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku
Biman Bangladesh Airlines Chittagong, Dhaka
Batik Air Malaysia Kuala Lumpur–International
Citilink Seasonal: Makassar
Egyptair Alexandria, Cairo
Seasonal: Sharm El Sheikh
Emirates Dubai–International
Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa
flyadeal Dammam, Riyadh
Fly Baghdad Baghdad, Erbil, Kirkuk, Najaf, Sulaimaniyah (all flights suspended)
flydubai Dubai–International
Flynas Abha, Abu Dhabi, Algiers, Ankara, Bahrain, Cairo, Dammam, Doha, Dubai–International, Giza, Hofuf, Khartoum (suspended), Kuwait City, Riyadh
Freebird Airlines Seasonal: İzmir
Garuda Indonesia Jakarta–Soekarno-Hatta
Seasonal: Banda Aceh, Makassar, Medan, Surabaya, Yogyakarta–International
Gulf Air Bahrain
Iran Air Seasonal: Ahvaz, Ardabil, Bandar Abbas, Birjand, Bushehr, Gorgan, Hamadan, Isfahan, Kerman, Mashhad, Qeshm, Rasht, Sari, Shiraz, Tabriz, Tehran–Imam Khomeini, Urmia, Yazd, Zahedan, Zanjan
Iraqi Airways Seasonal: Baghdad
Jazeera Airways Kuwait City
Kam Air Kabul
Kuwait Airways Kuwait City
Lion Air Seasonal: Banda Aceh, Jakarta–Soekarno-Hatta, Makassar, Medan, Padang, Pekanbaru, Surabaya
Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur–International
Seasonal: Alor Setar, Johor Bahru, Kuala Terengganu, Penang
Middle East Airlines Seasonal: Beirut
Nesma Airlines Ha'il
Oman Air Muscat
Pakistan International Airlines Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Sialkot
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Qatar Airways Doha
Royal Air Maroc Casablanca
Seasonal: Agadir, Fez, Marrakech, Oujda, Rabat, Tangier
Royal Jordanian Amman–Queen Alia
Salam Air Muscat
Saudia Abha, Alexandria, Algiers, Ankara, Baghdad, Bahrain, Cairo, Casablanca, Dammam, Dhaka, Dubai–International, Gassim, Istanbul, Jakarta–Soekarno-Hatta, Jeddah, Kano, Kuala Lumpur–International, Kuwait, Muscat, Riyadh, Tabuk
Seasonal: Agadir, Fez, Izmir, Jakarta–Halim Perdanakusuma, Karachi, Khartoum (suspended), London–Heathrow, Makassar, Marrakesh, Mumbai, Oujda, Padang, Rabat, Surabaya, Tangier
SCAT Airlines Seasonal: Almaty
Serene Air Islamabad
Syrian Air Seasonal: Damascus (suspended)
Thai Airways International Seasonal: Hat Yai, Narathiwat
Tunisair Seasonal: Tunis
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Seasonal: Ankara, Antalya, Denizli, Gaziantep, İzmir
Utair Seasonal: Magas, Makhachkala, Kazan
Uzbekistan Airways Seasonal: Tashkent
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at MED airport. See Wikidata query.
Years Passengers Movements
2011 Increase 3,547,508 Increase 32,935
2012 Increase 4,588,158 Increase 36,499
2013 Increase 4,669,181 Increase 40,000
2014 Increase 5,703,349 Increase 48,549
2015 Increase 5,831,163 Increase 49,031
2016 Increase 6,572,787 Increase 54,451
2017 Increase 7,805,295 Increase 58,045
2018 Increase 8,144,790 Increase 60,665
Source: TAV Investor Relations

Accidents and incidents

  • On 16 March 2001, the airport was the scene of a bloody end to the hijacking of a Russian-based Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 jet bound from Istanbul to Moscow carrying 162 passengers. The hijackers, apparently Chechen separatists, had landed at the airport and had demanded additional fuel to fly to Afghanistan. After 18 hours of no negotiations, Saudi Security forces stormed the plane, bringing an end to the hijack. There were three fatalities, including a hijacker, a Turkish passenger, and a Russian Air stewardess.
  • On 5 January 2014, a Saudia Boeing 767-300, flight SV2841 from Mashhad, Iran made an emergency landing after one of its main landing gear failed to deploy. The aircraft was traveling from the Iranian city of Mashhad with 315 passengers on board. 29 people were injured as they exited the aircraft that was in a nose-up position, 11 were taken to hospital, and the rest were treated at the airport's medical center.

See also

References

  1. ^ "TAV Traffic Results 2018" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  2. ^ "10 things to know about the Madinah Airport expansion PPP transaction".
  3. ^ "PressReleaseDetail". Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  4. ^ "PFIe".
  5. ^ "Banking industry news & analysis of international finance – Euromoney magazine". 12 February 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  6. ^ "New Madinah airport test operations begins". Saudi Gazette. 12 April 2015. Archived from the original on 30 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  7. ^ "King Salman opens mega airport in Madinah". Arab News. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  8. ^ "TAV have constructed the world's best airport | Times Aerospace". www.timesaerospace.aero.
  9. ^ "ENR Announces Winners of 3rd Annual Global Best Projects Competition". Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  10. ^ "Air Arabia Egypt Adds Alexandria – Madinah Route in NW22".
  11. ^ "Air Astana will launch flights from Almaty to Medina Service From Oct 2024". businesstraveller. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  12. ^ Liu, Jim. "Turkish Airlines confirms AnadoluJet network transition from late-March 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Biman Bangladesh adds Madinah / Manchester service in W19".
  14. ^ "Citilink Hadir di Makassar. Terbang Tanpa Transit". ujastour.id. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  15. ^ "WEEKLY FLIGHTS FROM JEDDAH AND MADINAH TO SHARM ELSHEIKH". egyptair.com. 9 June 2019.
  16. ^ Mahmoud, Sinan (25 January 2024). "Fly Baghdad grounds planes as Iraqi government orders inquiry into US sanctions". The National. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  17. ^ Liu, Jim. "flynas W19 network expansion". Routesonline. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  18. ^ "FLYNAS FURTHER EXPANDS MADINAH INTERNATIONAL NETWORK IN SEP 2024". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  19. ^ "flynas launches 4 direct weekly flights between Al Medina and Cairo as of December 2". ZAWYA. 16 November 2022.
  20. ^ "flynas Adds Madinah – Dubai Route from April 2015". Airlineroute.net. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  21. ^ "FLYNAS ADDS MADINAH – GIZA SPHINX SERVICE FROM DEC 2024". aeroroutes.com. 25 November 2024.
  22. ^ "Mulai 12 Agustus 2023, Garuda Indonesia Terbangi YIA-Jeddah dan Madinah". Traveldetik. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  23. ^ "Lion Air adds Boeing 737MAX service to Saudi Arabia from Oct 2017". Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  24. ^ "Malaysia Airlines adds Madinah scheduled service in W18".
  25. ^ "Malaysia Airlines starts Hajj charter". 24 July 2017.
  26. ^ "Nesma Airlines expands Hail service in Nov 2016". Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  27. ^ "pk_jun15.jpg".
  28. ^ "Pakistan International Airlines NW24 International Service Changes". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  29. ^ Liu, Jim. "Pegasus adds Madinah flights from Jan 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  30. ^ "Welcome to SalamAir". salamair.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  31. ^ "Saudia NS25 Madinah – Istanbul Aircraft Changes".
  32. ^ Liu, Jim. "SCAT adds Saudi Arabia service in W19". Routesonline. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  33. ^ "Rebels said to enter Damascus as army reportedly abandons airport". www.timesofisrael.com. The Times of Israel. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  34. ^ "Istanbul New Airport Transition Delayed Until April 5, 2019 (At The Earliest)". 9 April 2019.
  35. ^ "UTair Transports Hajj Pilgrims". Archived from the original on 6 October 2015.
  36. ^ "TAV Investor Relations". ir.tav.aero.
  37. ^ "TAV Traffic Results". Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  38. ^ "Bloody end to Chechen HIjack". BBC News. 16 March 2001. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
  39. ^ "29 injured as Saudia jet makes emergency landing". gulfnews.com. 5 January 2014.
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